Day 253

Thoughts: I have been getting quite a few emails lately asking exactly what I eat on the Earth Diet and what is my favourite foods; so thought I would share with you my five favourite recipes! Maybe you will love them too ;) Nothing processed, no artificial flavours, sugars, all natural ingredients straight from the earth!

1. Spanish Beans and Rice with avocado

I love to eat this after a workout:) The combination of beans, rice, avocado, and zingy lime salad is so fulfilling! mmm!



Ingredients:
1/2 cup white or brown rice
1 cup chicken stock; boil a chicken carcus until you have stock (optional for vegetarians/vegans)
2 cups of cooked red kidney beans or 15oz (450gr) red kidney beans can
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp paprika
a handful of coriander (cilantro)

Action:
1. Cook rice (in chicken stock optional) for 15 minutes, or until done (check package directions).
2. While rice cooks, thinly slice onion and celery. Mince garlic. Open, drain and rinse beans. Heat oil in a pot/pan over medium heat.
3. Add paprika, onions and celery and sauté until tender, 6 - 8 minutes.
4. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes longer. Add beans and coriander. Heat through.
5. Cover and reduce heat to keep warm.
6. When rice is done, stir into beans. Add cubes of avocado and fresh coriander and serve! Mmm and I love to eat it with Sweet and Spicy Avocado Salad!!!

2. Sweet and Spicy Avocado Salad



I love this salad with so many herbs, flavours, aromas and different textures in my mouth mmm! It is so refreshing especially in the summer ;)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
-2 Avocados
-A bunch of lettuce
-A bunch of kale
-A bunch of baby spinach
-2 cloves of garlic
-1 small chunk of ginger
-2 or 3 spring onion stems (green onion)
-1 green chilli (if you like spicy)
-2 dates (if you like sweet)
-A bunch of coriander (cilantro)
-A tablespoon of coriander seeds
-1 cucumber,
-2 limes
-A dash of olive oil
-A dash of himalayan salt
-Brazil or walnuts optional

Action:
1. Chop garlic, ginger, spring onion, chilli, dates, coriander (cilantro) and coriander seeds and add to a bowl.
2. Add the juice of the lime, a dash of olive oil and himalayan salt. Stir so the juices of each ingredient can soak each other up!
3. Chop cucumber and avocado in cubes.
4. Break the lettuce, kale and spinach with your hands.
5. Put the leafy greens in a serving bowl and add avocado and cucumber.
6. Pour the dressing over your salad. Add chunks of Brazil or walnuts if desired.
7. Enjoy your sweet and spice!

3. Honey Rosemary Chicken with baby spinach



I love the taste of sweetly marinated chicken with rosemary! It is a hearty protein meal, yet still light :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
-Baby spinach
-Lime
-Free range organic chicken
-Garlic
-Fresh or dried rosemary
-Honey
-Olive oil
-Sesame seeds

Action:
1. Put baby spinach in two bowls and squeeze lime juice all over it!
2. Cut garlic into small chunks, cut chicken into cubes
3. Heat pan with olive oil, add garlic, fry for a minute
4. Add chicken and cook until just gone white then add a couple tablespoons of honey and fresh rosemary. Use as much or little as you like depending on taste.
5. Cook chicken until ready then serve over baby spinach
6. While the juices of that are drizzling over the salad, toss sesame seeds for a couple minutes in the pan and then serve on top!

This recipe was created by Stephanie Williams!

4. Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls



Oh for the chocolate lovers! This is a rich treat of sweetness, chocolate and peanut butter all rolled into one ball! ;)

Serves Many!

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup cocao powder
-1/2 blended nuts of your choice (peanuts if you want it extra nutty!)
-3 tablespoons water
-2 tablespoons agave
-1/2 cup of whole nuts
-2 tablespoons (or more!!!) peanut butter (organic no extra additives or blend your own peanuts)

Action:
1. Add cocao powder, blended nuts, water and agave syrup to bowl and stir.
2. Add peanut butter
3. Taste, and as desired add extra chocolate, agave, nuts, water
4. Stir in whole nuts
5. Roll into balls and store in a container in the fridge or

5. Creamy Strawberry Nut Pie



I love this as it is 100% raw! It may resemble a creamy dessert for many, or ice cream. It is very rich! Yum! It's a bit romantic too ;)

Serves many! Unless you eat it all ;)

Ingredients; crust:
-1 cup brazil nuts
-1 cup shredded coconut (optional)- crack open a coconut and shred it yourself!
-a pinch of himalayan salt
-2 heaping T of carob or cocao powder
-3 dates diced or blended with a dash of water
-A dash of olive oil

filling:
-1/2 cup coconut oil (optional)
-3 dates diced or blended with a dash of water
-2 avocados mashed
-Whole nuts - my favourite is macadamia!
-Fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, your choice! I like to use all of them :)

Action:
1. For Crust: Blend brazil nuts, cocao, dates, water, olive oil and salt into a crumbly slightly wet consistency.
2. Pulse crust into crust-like consistency and line a 9" spring form pan.
3. Freeze while making the filling.
4. For Filling: Combine avocado, coconut oil (optional) and dates into a blender.
5. Stir in chopped or whole nuts.
6. Slice Strawberries and put a layer of them on the crust.
7. Pour filling into crust. Line the top layer with strawberry slices.
8. Freeze the pie for a few hours - until frozen entire way through.
9. Garnish with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and mint!

More recipes available on The Earth Diet website.

Challenges: Sitting on my butt all day in the car!

Triumphs:

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A avocado!

Food fest 2: 3 nectarines.

Food fest 3: Another avocado :)

Food fest 4: A punnet of blueberries.

Food fest 5: A 3rd avocado :) I love avos - as you can tell from above that 4 out of 5 of my favourite recipes have avocado! Heheee ;)

Food fest 6: A red apple

Recipe: More recipes on www.TheEarthDiet.org

Exercise: I was on a roadtrip for 12 hours today - so I stretched on car breaks. I also exercised my mind - reading me new script for the film "Long Weekend" and locking that into my head!

112 days to go!!!

Day 252

Thoughts: Consistency consistency consistency.

The word “consistent” means “harmonious uniformity or agreement among things or parts” meaning the same throughout in structure or composition. Manifesting anything means being consistent at it. Doing something once won’t help acquire it.

Beholding health and fitness; if you want to either lose weight or tone your body, you don’t just go to the gym once or do a workout routine one time and expect to have the body of your dreams. You make a consistent lifestyle of going to the gym or doing the workout to achieve your desired intention.

It took consistent action to get you into the routine or rut you are in today. Where you are now with your weight, body image, finances, relationships, was not an overnight occurrence. It took consistent action of doing the things that got you to this point now.

"Consistency is everything. Diet is 70% everything." This is the ideology of Lori Morris who is a Personal Trainer at Big Al's Family Fitness. Today I had the opportunity to train with Lori and her consistency is key approach.

Having a trainer that is consistent in behaviour is comforting as I know that if I want to direct my life, I must take control of my consistent actions. Just like in life Lori taught me that toning the body must be consistent; that is constant and regular.

Being consistent also means maintaining a level of focus and concentration on what you do want instead of focusing on what you don’t want. Being consistent is to be consciously aware of what you consistently focus your attention on: what you consistently talk about—to others; to yourself.

If you want to manifest abundance then do actions consistent with that. If you want to manifest dearth then do actions consistent to that.

To me consistency is something you continue to do despite your 'feelings' or 'thoughts' to do otherwise. For example, if I set a goal to work out 5 days a week for a month and on the 2nd week I don't feel like it, or am tired, or think I would rather do something else, that is contradicting against my goal to be consistent. It can happen to me a lot if I allow it. When I do not honour my feelings, I am consistent with what I set out to do.

A successful weight loss habit is consistency. The more consistent the diet, the more likely you are to maintain weight loss year after time. Lori explained that she cannot train you if you go out and binge on junk foods.

What's clear is that a healthy body, detoxification, weight loss and toning is a slow, steady process that requires a certain amount of vigilance, commitment and discipline every day. It also requires that we take chances, getting away from those comforting, and often distracting habits, and replacing them with ones in true alignment to what you want ones.

Being consistent doesn't mean you have to robotically follow the same diet day after day. Some of the things I do to ensure I am having fun along with being consistent are:

-I work treats into my diet. I find that having a small indulgence each day, like Chocolate Balls, Strawberry Nut Cream Pie, Or Earth Diet Chocolate Nut Cookies (recipes on The Earth Diet website) or a handful of macadamia nuts mmm or a bowl of peanuts or cherries, or sweet nectarines, or buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries keeps me fulfilled and healthy!

-I plan a cheat meal rather than a cheat day. Giving myself an entire day to eat what I want usually leads to overindulgence and overeating! Instead, I plan on having something I really enjoy like cooked foods, or Honey Rosemary Chicken, Spanish Rice and Beans (Recipes both available on www.TheEarthDiet.org) and then I get back on track with being consistent inside my goal!

-I am always prepared so that I have healthy yummy Earth Diet foods in my house, and if I am going into the city, or traveling to another country or city I will pack avocados, nuts and fruit like cherries and nectarines! Being surrounded in healthy foods absolutely reduces cravings and any temptations I may have when I am out and about!

-I keep things balanced. I realize that watching what goes in (or calories) and eating healthy is important for a goal of being healthy, and so is enjoying life and not obsessing about everything I eat. Sometimes, being too restrictive can lead to me bingeing on the very things I am trying to avoid (like macadamia nuts! Hehe!) .

-I don't give up. There are those days when I eat too many nuts, or chocolate balls, or rice. I do overindulge at times and previous to The Earth Diet I would use that as an excuse to quit and go back to old, unhealthy behaviors. I realize one step out of line with being consistently healthy isn't the end of the world (although my mind likes to tell me it is!) and even if I've really fallen off the fence, at any moment I can always get right back on track by simply making the choice to not give up.

Granted it won’t take you years of consistent action to turn things around like it did to create your present routine or rut; you did that more or less unconsciously. Now you can create consistency consciously, aware and awake.

It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.

Lorri Morris a Personal Trainer from Big Al's Family Fitness!!!
www.bigalsfamilyfitness.com

Challenges: The old adage, “Practice makes perfect” is a half-truth if you are practicing the wrong thing; then practice only makes permanent.

Triumphs: A consistent player conforms to a pattern; he repeats phrases and thinks in a groove.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: 1/2 of a rockmelon (Cantaloupe)

Food fest 2: A avocado.

Food fest 3: A bowl of peanuts. A nice hearty meal after a body workout :)

Food fest 4: Some more peanuts.

Food fest 5: Mediterranean Dinner! Rice and beans with Cucumber Salad and Avocado :) Oh what a combination :) mmmmmmmmmm



Recipe: Recipe for The Chocolate Balls, Creamy Strawberry Nut Pie, Honey Rosemary Chicken, Chocolate Nut Cookies, Buckwheat Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Meditterranean Dinner can be found on The Earth Diet website www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: A training session with Lori. I worked my legs and butt with squats and a hand weight, my shoulders and abs. Then I stretched in the sauna :)

113 days to go!!!

Day 251

Thoughts: Colloidal Silver

The Rediscovery of a Super Antibiotic? Colloidal silver appears to be a powerful natural antibiotic and preventative against infections. Acting as a catalyst, it reportedly disables the enzyme that one-celled bacteria, viruses and fungi need for their oxygen metabolism. They suffocate without corresponding harm occurring to human enzymes or parts of the human body chemistry. The it is the destruction of disease- causing organisms in the body and in the food. Colloidal silver was in common use until 1938. Many remember their grandparents putting silver dollars in milk to prolong its freshness at room temperature.

How It Works
The presence of colloidal silver near a virus fungus, bacterium or any other single celled pathogen disables its oxygen metabolism enzyme its chemical lung, so to say. Within a few minutes, the pathogen suffocates and dies, and is cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics which destroy beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver leaves thew tissue-cell enzymes intact, as they are radically different from the enzymes of primitive single-celled life. Thus colloidal silver is absolutely safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter.

Medical applications of Colloidal Silver (use liquid CS internally, gel CS externally): Acne, Dandruff, Lyme Disease, Septic conditions (of eyes, ears, mouth & throat), AIDS, Dermatitis, Lymphagitis, Septicemia, Allergies, Diabetes, Malaria, Shingles, Appendicitis, Diphtheria, Meningitis, Skin cancer, Arthritis, Dysentery, Moles, Skin rashes, Athlete’s Foot, Ear infections, Neurasthenia, Sore Throat, Bacteria, all forms, Ebola, Parasitic infections, Staph infections, Bladder infection, Eczema, Pavo virus, Stomach flu, Bleeding gums, Encephalitis, Plant viruses & fungi, Stomach ulcer, Blepharitis, Fibrositis, Pleurisy, Strep infection, Blood Parasites, Flu, Pneumonia (viral, fungal & bacterial), Syphilis, Blood poisoning, Furunculosis, Prostate, Thrush (yeast infection), Boils, Gastritis, Pruritis, Thyroid, Bubonic Plague, Gingivitis, Psoriasis, Tonsillitis, Burns, Gonorrhea, Purulent Ophthalmia, Tooth decay (neutralize), Cancer, Halitosis, Pyorrhea, Toxemia, Candida, (yeast infection), Hay Fever, Quinsy, Trachoma, Canine parovirus, Hemorrhoids, Rheumatism, Trench foot, Canker Sore, Hepatitis, Rhinitis, Tuberculosis, Chilblains, Herpes, Ringworm, Ulcerated Stomach (ulcers), Cholera, Impetigo, Rosacea, Venereal diseases, Chronic fatigue, Indigestion, SARS, Virus, all forms, Colds, Keratitis, Scabies, Warts, Colitis, Leprosy, Scarlet Fever, West Nile Virus, Conjunctivitis, Leukemia, Scarletina, Whooping Cough, Cystitis, Lupus, Seborrhea, Yeast infection.

Anything liquid Colloidal Silver can do internally, gel Colloidal Silver can do externally. Suggested uses of GEL: all skin irritations including, acne and pimples, eczema, athlete's foot, chilblains, boils, warts, yeast infections, cold sores,sun spots, grazes,rashes,leg ulcers, insect bites, sunburn, cold sores. CS Gel helps speed up healing of cuts or minor burns, helps bring out bruising too. Upon drying it leaves a protective coating. It is transparent, completely odourless and does not stain. After it dries it helps keep out infections.

Satisfied users have taken one tablespoon daily, to a full glass for four days, to establish a level, then one quarter cup daily for maintenance (proportional to body weight for children). Also, colloidal silver can be applied directly to cuts, scrapes, and open sores, or on a bandage for warts. It con be applied on eczema, itches, acne or bug bites. To purify water, add one tablespoon per gallon, shake well and wait six minutes. Mixed this way, it’s tasteless. It is not an allopathis poison.

Veterinary and Garden Use Colloidal silver has worked just as well on pets of all kinds. Used in proportion to body weight, it brings the same, sure results. In the garden, field or greenhouse, add enough to the water or soil and the plants will do the rest. Additionally, there has never been a drug interaction with any other medication, nor can you overdose. Colloidal silver has proven to be both a remedy and a prevention for all infections, all colds, all flu and all fermentation due to any bacteria, virus or fungus even the non-apparent low-grade, general body infections most people have. All living things are in the colloidal chemical state, not the crystalline Substances already in that form, are more readily assimilated by the body. Colloidal silver is the most useable form of the most effective disease fighter there is.

Source: www.2012unlimited.net/CS_gel2.html

Challenges: All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy. All misery comes from the desire for oneself to be happy.

Triumphs: A sick body with a good heart is more beneficial to future lives than a fit, healthy body that is used for self-cherishing.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: Orange and Grapefruit Juice

Food fest 2: A nectarine

Food fest 3: A avocado

Food fest 4: A beet, celery, ginger, carrot juice

Food fest 5: Jamaican Red Beans and Rice! Ingredients: Rice, kidney beans, garlic, whole peppers, green onions, fresh thyme, the juice from a coconut, and himalayan salt.




Food Fest 6: Rockmelon! So sweet :)



Recipe: The recipe for Jamacian Red Beans and Rice is available on www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: A one hour workout at Big Al's Family Fitness. Using the weight machines I worked out my calves, abs and legs and I walked 84 stairs! www.bigalsfamilyfitness.com

114 days to go!!!

Day 250

Thoughts: Acupuncture!

Acupuncture is the art and science of regulating the body's energy to relieve pain, treat and prevent illness and to nourish your health and well being. It originated in China more than 2,000 years ago and it was not until the 2nd century BCE during the Han Dynasty that stone and bone needles were replaced with metal.!

Intense or prolonged emotions can cause physical problems. Anger, fear, worry, sadness and joy fluctuate normally throughout our lives. In excess, they can decrease the circulation of energies and substances throughout the body and lead to sickness. Acupuncture unblocks these habitual emotions.

Today I had the opportunity to receive acupuncture followed by massage by Joseph D'Antona who runs a private practice as a licensed acupuncturist, Herbalist and Massage Therapist in New York. He received the distinguished "Clinic award" for demonstrating outstanding clinical performance within a teaching clinic that is one of the largest and most renowned outpatient Holistic facilities in the United States!

Joe used very fine, sterile, surgical steel needles that are slightly thicker than human hair. The needles are used once on a patient and then disposed of. In Joe's hands, it is a safe, effective and usually painless method of utilizing the body's innate ability to heal and maintain a healthy state of balance. Acupuncture is also drug-free, so you avoid and side effects and/or dependency's.

Some conditions that Acupuncture can treat:
*Addictions (drugs, smoking, alcohol, food etc)
*Arthritis
*Asthma, Allergies, Bronchitis
*Acne
*Back Pain
*Breech Pregnancy
*Carpal tunnel
*Chemotherapy nausea
*Delayed labor
*Depression
*Digestion conditions (ulcers, nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, irritable bowel, constipation, diarrhea)
*Ear conditions (ringing & earaches)
*Eczema
*Facial Palsy
*Fibromyalgia
*Flatulence
*Headaches
*Hemorrhoids
*High and Low Blood pressure
*Infections, Colds and Flu
*Impotency
*Infertility
*Insomnia
*Menstrual and female disorders
*Menopause
*Muscle and joint pain (Tendonitis, bursitis, sprains)
*Post-op dental pain
*Sinusitis
*Skin disorders
*Snoring
*Stroke rehabilitation
*Trigeminal Neuralgia
*Ulcers
*Urinary disorders

Acupuncture is a powerful treatment for depression and anxiety. Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18%). In a given year, it affects women twice more than men. In Western medicine, generalized anxiety disorder is a psychological and physiological state characterized by excessive, exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry. People with symptoms of anxiety tend to always expect disaster and can't stop worrying about things such as health, money, family, work, or school. In people with anxiety, the worry often is unrealistic or out of proportion for the situation. Therefore, daily life becomes a constant state of worry, fear, and dread. Eventually, the anxiety dominates the person's thinking and eventually interferes with daily functioning.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, generalized anxiety disorder is understood as a disorder of Shan You Si ( 善 忧 思) or YuZhen (郁 证). Traditional Chinese Medicine views anxiety not as a brain dysfunction, but more as an inner organs dysfunction. Traditional Chinese Medicine theory holds that each of the Zang Organs plays a role in the emotions. Emotions and organ’s health are intimately connected.

1. Heart/Spleen Qi Deficiency: preoccupation, obsessive worry, aversion to speaking, palpitations, insomnia, fatigue, poor appetite, abdominal distention, teeth mark in the tongue, a pale tongue, and weak pulse.

2. Liver Qi Stagnation Affecting the Spleen: preoccupation, feelings of irritability, moodiness, poor appetite, hypochondriac tightness or pain, muscular tension, fatigue, alternating constipation and loose stools, a pale or dusky tongue with distended sublingual veins, and a wiry-weak pulse.

3. Kidney Qi Deficiency: preoccupation, feelings of fear and dread, and may be accompanied by lower back and knee weakness, lack of sexual desire, frequent urination, cold hands and feet, a pale tongue, and a weak pulse.

4. Lung Qi Deficiency: preoccupation, rapidly changing moods, sadness and easily feeling grief and loss, inability to "let go," aversion to speaking, shortness of breath, fatigue, sweating easily upon exertion, a weak cough, throat discomfort, a pale tongue with a thin white coating, and a thin pulse.

The acupuncturist decides which points to treat by observing and questioning the patient in order to make a diagnosis according to the tradition which he or she utilizes. Joe focuses on the body to see stagnation points using four diagnostic methods: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiring, and palpation.

* Inspection focuses on the face and particularly on the tongue, including analysis of the tongue size, shape, tension, color and coating, and the absence or presence of teeth marks around the edge.
* Auscultation and olfaction refer, respectively, to listening for particular sounds (such as wheezing) and attending to body odor.
* Inquiring focuses on the "seven inquiries", which are: chills and fever; perspiration; appetite, thirst and taste; defecation and urination; pain; sleep; and menses and leukorrhea.
* Palpation includes feeling the body for tender "ashi" points, and palpation of the left and right radial pulses at two levels of pressure (superficial and deep) and three positions Cun, Guan, Chi.

Joe believes we can heal ourselves, and that he cannot heal you, however assist you focusing your energy in healing yourself. He also says clients ask him "But I am not spiritual and don't you have to believe in acupuncture for it to work?" - Joe replied that acupuncture is science; Acupoints are tiny areas on the skin that contain relatively concentrated levels of nerve endings, lymphatics, and blood vessels. Acupoints can be readily identified by their lower electrical resistance, and are usually located in small palpable depressions detectable by trained acupuncturists. Stimulation from needling an acupoint initiates a complex cascade of events that have been studied, researched and grouped into Western theories that attempt to explain how acupuncture works.

My experience:
I had needles in my feet, legs, arms, stomach, forehead and ears to release the trigger points! Trigger points are spots that are not receiving oxygen or blood circulation, so the muscle is shortening up, like a permanent cramp, a thumb-sized dead zone. The acupuncture needle stimulated the muscle, and blood would flow to the area, and my body began to heal that spot. Having these trigger points stimulated is a unique experience and I did not feel most of the needles go in (at all!), except the ones in the ears! The needles caused involuntary movement, like twitches deep in the muscle; I could feel blockages being released and letting go. Once all needles were in place Joe had me lay and breathe while imagining fresh oxygen flowing through my entire body, from my feet to my head, and then a sigh release on the exhale where I could relax and melt into the table. At times I could feel the needle points and the blockage of energy, so I would breathe into it until it was flowing in which I would experience sensations, like a rush or flow of light bubbly energy throughout my entire body. It was like my body, cells, blood and organs were being woken up! After Joe removed the needles he completed the session with a massage. It was absolutely the greatest manipulation of superficial layers of muscle and connective tissue I have ever had, and he is known for his integrity, ethics, consciousness and love for his patients. I walked out feeling calm, light, balanced, and awake - conscious and alive!!!

For Acupuncture and Massage in New York visit The Balance Health and Wellness Center www.631balance.com
Phone: 631 BALANCE

Acupuncture chart from Hua Shou (fl. 1340s, Ming Dynasty). This image from Shi si jing fa hui (Expression of the Fourteen Meridians). (Tokyo : Suharaya Heisuke kanko, Kyoho gan 1716).

Challenges: Know emptiness, Be compassionate.

Triumphs: My religion is to live and die without regret.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A orange and grapefruit juice mmm mmm mmm a sweet way to start Wednesday ;)

Food fest 2: Strawberries

Food fest 3: Rockmelon (cantaloupe) I love fruit especially in the summer! So sweet, fresh and nourishing!

Food fest 4: A avocado!

Food fest 5: Some more rockmelon :)

Food fest 6: Half a avocado

Food fest 7: Spanish Beans and Rice. Ingredients: rice, red kidney beans, onion, garlic, celery, olive oil, paprika, coriander (cilantro).



Recipe: I ate mostly mono raw foods today, the recipe for Spanish Beans and Rice is available on www.TheEarthDiet.org

Exercise: A 1 hour workout at Big Al's Family Fitness! I worked out my legs, arms and abs and then stretched in the sauna. And then rode my bike home ... in the rain! Lovely and refreshing :)

115 days to go!!!

Source:
www.631balance.com
www.acupuncture.com
www.bigalsfamilyfitness.com
www.theearthdiet.org

Day 249

Thoughts: California Becomes the First 'Cage-Free' Egg State

California Governor Schwarzenegger has signed legislation requiring that all whole eggs sold in that state come from hens that are able to stand up, extend their limbs, and spread their wings without touching either one another or the sides of the cage.

The legislation comes two years after the passage of Proposition 2, which improved the standards for the treatment of animals on factory farms.

Planet Green reports:

“Of course, the hens will still be kept in cages, so the ‘cage-free’ term is still a myth, but for the chickens in California, it will make a world of difference. And the law doesn't come into effect until 2015, but it's a certain sign of a positive future.”

Source Planet Green

In Food Inc. the filmmakers visit inside a chicken farm so Americans can see first hand what antibiotics and high-tech breeding are doing to the nation’s chickens. It used to take a chick three months to grow into adulthood, but with the chemicals put into the feed by the big industrialized food companies, the chicks grow in only 45 days and develop oversized breasts. Morison shows how it has affected the chickens - some of the chickens can no longer stand and die before they are brought to market.

To read more visit Blog Day 201 and Day 195.



Visit: www.theearthdiet.org

Challenges: Truth is only as real as our delusion allows.

Triumphs: I picked the very first ripe tomato off the vine in my garden today! It is my first experience of planting something, producing something and then being able to eat it. Quite unique. :) I also had a nice light day - physically, and I ate entirely raw foods.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery, ginger juice!

Food fest 2: A avocado

Food fest 3: Another avocado mmm creamy!

Food fest 4: A orange and grapefruit juice so sweeeet!

Food fest 5: Green Spicy Avocado Salad - my favourite summer salad and yes I did have it yesterday as well!

Food fest 6: Strawberries while watching Paris Je t'aime

Recipe: Green Spicy Avocado Salad is available on www.theearthdiet.org

Cost:

Exercise: a 1 hour bike ride - 30 minutes of it in the rain! Not by choice, and then I chose it and it was delightful and refreshing!

116 days to go!!!

Day 248

Don't worry be happy.

How do you 'not worry' and be 'happy'? Is it even a reasonable request?

I do not claim to be a happy person, writing a blog to make people happier. That is absolutely not my intention.

It seems being happy in today's world is an unreasonable request, like it really takes something for a person to be happy. There are thousands of books out there on 'How To Be Happy'. Ruminating my thoughts is if we have forgotten how to naturally be happy or if being happy truly isn't our natural state. It may be unreasonable to say that happiness is a forced emotion, an objective state, it is not real. No one is happy. Our organic state is one that is not governed by emotion - not happiness and not sadness, not any emotion. Just being.

I read an article today called "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Susan Biali, M.D. who says she has become an incurable optimist. And whether your an optimist or pessimist is determined by how you view the 'difficult' events that show up in your life, or happen in the world around you. Whatever it required to be each one, I have what it takes to be both. I see I have a choice which one to go with. Sometimes it's not as simple as that and before I am aware that I have a choice I have already committed to one and have become that. I have indulged in the illusion.

When Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology was asked to describe the one piece of information that he'd like every person to know, this is what he said, * Teaching our kids HOW to think “I think I can" * Do Stop Thinking About Tomorrow * How an Optimist Sees Opportunity in the Current Market * The Virtue of Pessimism

Pessimism is a word for 'belief in bad outcome'. "If you are a pessimist in the sense that when bad things happen you think they are going to last forever and undermine everything you do".

Seligman claims that he's a "born pessimist". Much of his work focuses on learned optimism, and the first thing his optimism programs teach is to recognize the catastrophic things that we say to ourselves when things go wrong. Optimism is a word for state of having positive beliefs.

Being a pessimist become a victim to realizing you are responsible for everything yet they have a conflicting thought process that they are responsible for the 'bad' things that happen to them. And think that one bad thing happening means that more are on the way. Being a optimist, in contrast, see negative events as being external and unrelated to them, isolated negative incidents that have no relationship to other aspects of their lives, or things that might happen in the future. Susan Biali, M.D says she chooses to see negative events as surprise circumstances that always, in retrospect, arrive with a gift hidden inside.

You can be both a pessimist and a optimist.

You are not any one way. Just simply re-creating moment by moment. You are responsible for your own thoughts and feelings. You are responsible for your happiness or upset at present. Only you.

I'm not writing this because I think I'm perfect; I am far from it and yet I am whole, perfect and complete. I slip in and out of being responsible and being a victim. Sharing these blogs reminds me.

It takes something to lead yourself, and it takes the host to take full responsibility of your own life. We live in a world where we are constantly taught that our feelings are caused by other people and external circumstances. “You make me so angry!” “He made me feel like a jerk!” Believing this is victim a trap.

The truth is that no one can make you angry. No one makes you feel frustrated. They might trigger those feelings, and triggering is not the same as causing. You see the feelings were already inside you to begin with, for them to trigger. I like to ask myself if I am willing to acknowledge that my feelings are my own and that they’re entirely my responsibility.

All is well, and I will never get it done. I remind my self life can be fun. No one is taking score of any kind, and if I will stop taking score so much, I will feel a whole lot better - and as you feel a whole lot better, more of the things that you want will flow to you. This incomplete place that you stand is actually complete, whole, perfect. You are right on track, right on schedule. Everything is unfolding perfectly. All is really well. Have fun.

This blog is thanks to Jason Armstrong writer and director, watch out for "Bitter" which starts shooting later this year!!!

Challenges: Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride - Sutta Nipata

Triumphs: See the truth, and you will see me.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery and ginger juice!

Food fest 2: A orange and grapefruit juice! My juicer certainly got a work out this morning :)

Food fest 3: My favourite summer salad the Spicy Green Avocado salad! I called it that as almost all of the ingredients are GREEN!



Food fest 4: Spanish Rice and Beans! Mmm mmm mmm!

Food fest 5: 3 nectarines and some cherries :) These are my favourite dessert's - so sweet!

Recipe: Spicy Green Avocado Salad recipe is available on The Earth Diet website www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: A 1 hour workout at Big Al's Family Fitness and a bike riding to and from the gym and to the supermarket :)

117 days to go!!!

Visit:
www.theearthdiet.org

Day 247

Thoughts: Beauty, Health, Love, all come from the inside.

What do you say to your self when you look in the mirror?

We have to live inside our heads a large part of our waking life. Granted, when we are working, playing, exercising, or socializing in any way - relating to family, friends, co-workers, etc...we are taken outside of ourselves, out of our heads, and our own mind-chatter is less present.

Are You Really In Your Body? Do you have yourself or does it have you? Are you rotting from the inside out?

Comfort and luxury are usually the chief requirements of life for your ego—its top priorities tend to be accumulations, achievements, and the approval of others. Consider a new alternative for what makes you happy, one that soars beyond the superficial demands of the ego. It starts in the inside and is the philosophy of Rebecca a personal trainer at Big Al's Family Fitness.

Today I had the opportunity to train with Rebecca and her 'be in your body' approach. She wants people to feel good about themselves, especially while training with her, and explains how some people are afraid to look at themselves in the mirror as they will think about themselves in a negative way. "You wouldn't let someone stand there and tell you how ugly and fat and disgusting you are, so don't do it to yourself!".

When we are in a mood of doing, figuring out, analyzing, pondering and planning, we utilize a ton of mental energy which disconnects us from the present moment. And as a result of this disconnection, our body becomes a machine to execute the tasks our mind commands rather than something we are aware of inhabiting. Usually when I exercise my mind is chit chattering away and I am not in my body, nor experiencing the workout. I especially allow my mind to wander if the exercise I am doing is burning in my muscles to avoid the pain. Rebecca's training today involved Mindfulness: State of being present in the here and now; being in the moment, being in your body; not being on 'autopilot’. She explained to me that all the avoiding and being on 'autopilot' as I go about my exercise routine is hindering my body's process to transform!!! How when you are present, and experience each movement, each burn, and visualize your muscles sculpting perfectly the way you want them, it is going to happen! And certainly a lot sooner than me just going through the motions of exercise but actually being elsewhere with my mind. Be there totally.

I considered how much time I spend in my mind while my body is doing something else. I ride my bike on complete autopilot, space out when someone is speaking to me, I rush through a meal barely tasting any of the food, I race to the supermarket barely noticing the sunshine or the sounds of birds chirping, I read three pages in a book and suddenly realize I have no idea what I have just read. Checking out of the present moment has become a nasty habit!

So this training session was about directing my attention into the body and generating my self from within. I feel it from within. Is it alive? Is there life in the hands, arms, legs and feet, in the abdomen, the chest? Can you feel the subtle energy field that pervades the entire body and gives vibrant life to every organ and every cell? Can you feel it simultaneously in all parts of the body as a single field of energy? Keep focusing on the feeling of your inner body for a few moments. Do not start to think about it. Feel it. The more attention you give it, the clearer and stronger this feeling will become. It will feel as if every cell is becoming more alive, and if you have a strong visual sense, you may get an image of your body becoming luminous. If you cannot feel very much at this stage, pay attention to whatever you CAN feel. Your body is coming alive. Never loose touch with it.

If you practice presence in each moment of your life, it will come naturally to you especially while you are exercising and you will be able to 'be' with the pain in the muscles. Examine where your attention is at this moment. You are listening to me, or you are reading these words in a blog. There may be things happening around you, busy street, people, noise. See if you can be in touch with your inner body at the same time. If you are in the gym working your body out, practice the same. Keep some of your attention within. For many years I tried cheating by thinking about other things while exercising, and as a result did not feel the transformation happening in my body and therefore did not happen. Let this be your practice in weeks to come. I will ;)

Attention is the key to transformation and full attention also implies acceptance.

Do not give all your attention away to the mind and the external world. By all means focus on what you are doing, but feel the inner body at the same time whenever possible. Then observe how this changes your state of consciousness and the quality of what you are doing.

Rebecca caused me to see how can I be present and enjoy my life if I'm not present and enjoying being inside of my very own body?

I am my own worst enemy.

Being Present is to be You - the real you. The real you only exists in the present moment. Your feelings are calm. Your reflexes are fast. Your wit is quick. You are decisive. You know what you want. You know what's right for you. You perform your best - public speaking, sports, music, relating to people. Your confidence is deep. You know you're not perfect. This lets you be real. You accept you have weaknesses. So does everyone.

A racing mind is evidence that you don't trust You. This condition of constant self-analysis disconnects you from your inner knowing. You experience inner conflict and second-guessing - struggling to be true to yourself, yet afraid others will hurt you if you do. Accidents happen more often, and people you love feel unloved by you, because you feel unloved by You.

Being present is the time frame you choose to focus on. There are only three possible time frames - past, present and future. Once you become aware of the thoughts you are having and the content of those thoughts, you will notice which timeframe you are in at any given time. You will begin to notice how often your thoughts and feelings are focused on the past or the future. Many people spend less than 1% of their time living in the present.

It has never NOT been the present moment.

The path to being more real in the present is to stop comparing. You compare the present with what "should" be happening. The result of this is judgments. You judge situations, other people and ourselves. Being in a gym is easy to judge others as there are so many other people around you with different bodies, health and fitness levels. Judgments make it hard to be real. That's because others will judge you right back, which hurts. The Bible tells us so in Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge or you will be judged..."

Being present happens in an instant. So does not being present! An upsetting thoughts triggers emotions based on the past hurts or future fears. It happens in an instant and is highly dependent on how good your boundaries are. Both result in conflict and unhappiness rooted in past and future-based thoughts and feelings. This is the real You that you want to keep hidden.

Being present begins with NOTICING when you are trying to alter the present moment and learning what you can do about it. You move from seeing yourself as a victim of circumstances to a decisive person who makes wise choices in difficult, uncertain and even scary situations. Your self-confidence and self-trust grow tremendously, as does your faith. People who want to be who they are while making wiser choices have no regrets, no matter how things unfold.

Challenges: It has never NOT been the present moment. Constantly reminding my self to be present is a challenge as it is not long before the mind comes chit chattering again and I get lost in it's story!!! Hehe ;)

Triumphs: Exercising and training with Rebecca today, reminding my self to be present, in my body, and actually experiencing the work out! “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart” Kahlil Gibran

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: Beetroot, Carrot, Celery and Ginger Juice - the bowel cleaner!

Food fest 2: Orange and grapefruit juice

Food fest 3: 3 nectarines

Food fest 4: Herb Avocado Salad! Ingredients: Parsley (from our garden!), coriander (cilantro), spring onion, avocado, lemon, a dash of olive oil and himalayan salt, and hemp seeds!



Food fest 5: A avocado

Food fest 6: Spanish Beans and Rice! Mmm! Ingredients: Kidney beans, garlic, onion, parsley, oregano, tomato, rice, olives and himalayan salt!



Recipe: The recipe for Herb Avocado Salad and Spanish Beans and Rice is on The Earth Diet website and will also be in The Earth Diet book being released later this year.

Exercise: The 1 hour training session with Rebecca from Big Al's Family Fitness :)

118 days to go!!!

Visit:
www.presentliving.com
www.theearthdiet.org
www.thegardendiet.com
www.bigalsfamilyfitness.com
www.631balance.com

Day 246

Thoughts: Stress begone!!!

The Earth Diet is about living a natural wholesome lifestyle of food, nutrition, love and presence - eating only foods naturally provided by the earth.

Here's what Dr. Wayne Dyer, the author of over 30 books has to say on what is natural and how thoughts are just as important to your health as the food you eat.

There’s nothing natural about living a life filled with stress and anxiety, having feelings of despair or depression, and needing pills to tranquilize yourself. Agitated thoughts that produce high blood pressure, a nervous stomach, persistent feelings of discomfort, an inability to relax or sleep, and frequent displays of displeasure and outrage are violating your natural state. Believe it or not, you have the power to create the naturally stress-free and tranquil life you desire. You can utilize this power to attract frustration or joy, anxiety or peace. So if it’s natural to have feelings of well-being, why is it that we seem to experience so much “unwellness” and tension?

The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking. That pesky ego is at work when you’re experiencing stress or anxiety. We speak of stress as if it were present in the world as something that attacks us. But the stress in your body is rarely the result of external forces or entities attacking you; it’s the result of the weakened connection to Source caused by the belief that ego is who you are. You are peace and joy, but you’ve allowed your ego to dominate your life.

Here’s a short list of stress-inducing thoughts that originate in your ego self: It’s more important to be right than to be happy; Winning is the only thing so when you lose, you should be stressed; Your reputation is more important that your relationship with your Source; Success is measured in dollars rather than in feeling happy and content; Being superior to others is more important than being kind to others.

You aren’t your work, your accomplishments, your possessions, your home, your family…your anything. You’re a creation of your Source, dressed in a physical human body intended to experience and enjoy life on Earth. This is the intention that you want to bring to the presence of stress—your personal intention to be tranquil. Stress and anxiety are choices that we make, ways that we choose to process events. Each day we have hundreds of opportunities to shift our thoughts and align with the Source that intended us for lives of joy and peace.

Challenges: The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. -Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Triumphs: The farmers markets have started now and will run all summer here! Woohooo I love the freshness, and got some zucchinis, blueberries, peaches, pickles, spring onions, and kale!!!

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: Avocado and blue berries from the farmers markets!

Food fest 2: Another avocado.

Food fest 3: Cherries, blueberries and 4 nectarines!

Food fest 4: Peanuts

Food fest 5: Balls of Peanut Butter Chocolate!!!

Recipe: Recipe for Balls Of Peanut Butter Chocolate is available on the website www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: A 1 hour workout at Big Al's Family fitness!

119 days to go!!!

Day 243

Thoughts: Spring clean your bowels!!!

Today was my first experience of the LIBBE Unit - in other words - an open system colonic at The Balance Health and Wellness Center!

The Balance Health and Wellness Center was Long Island's First Professional Colon Hydrotherapy Facility. The Center was established in 1999 and has set the standard for the Colon Cleansing Profession here in New York. At one time, The Balance Health and Wellness Center was the training facility for the Long Island School of Colon Hydrotherapy.

Their staff provides therapeutic treatments to reduce stress and free you to become the healthiest person you can be. Your body, mind and spirit are so intertwined that stress, whether physical, mental or emotional, affects your entire well-being. All of the services they offer are designed to cleanse, detoxify and transform your body from within.

If I have totally lost you already - a colonic is a therapy that both involve introducing water into the colon through to rectum in order to cleanse the colon.

* Colonics cleanse the entire length of the colon.
* Colonics involve mutiple infusions of water into the colon.
* With colonics, fecal matter leaves the body via a tube. The client does not see or smell the fecal matter during the session.
* At the end of the session, the client usually sits on a toilet, and usually passes any residual water and stools.
* Colonics must be administered by a trained colon hydrotherapist and requires professional equipment.



The large intestine is the portion of the digestive system most responsible for absorption of water from the indigestible residue of food. The ileocecal valve of the ileum (small intestine) passes material into the large intestine at the cecum. Material passes through the ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid portions of the colon, and finally into the rectum. From the rectum, the waste is expelled from the body.

Why you would get a colonic?

You were not born with the body you have right now. Whether you are pleased with your appearance or not, you created the body you live in through your actions and choices.

You have side effects of an unclean bowel:
Constipation
Bloating
Headaches
Stomachaches
Backaches
Skin Blemishes
General Listlessness
Foul Breath or Body Odor
Excessive weight

When your intestines becomes dirty, it can lead to illness and negative health conditions throughout your entire body. Your digestive system also houses the majority of your immune system. Cleaning the garbage out of your digestive system can have a huge impact on how you feel, how you look, and how often you become ill.

If you want to read more check out my blog Day 130 http://theearthdiet.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-130.html

I have had colonics before in a closed system and this was my first experience at the open system. There are basically two different types of equipment available for administering colonics, open systems & closed systems. There are many different manufacturers of colonic equipment, but all systems are either open or closed. The difference between a closed and open system colonic is this:

*A closed system, the water and waste matter you eliminate are carried via tubing directly into the plumbing system so there is no odor whatsoever.
*With an open system you eliminate into a basin or channel that typically leads to the toilet.
*Open systems are typically gravity flow, much like if you were receiving an enema or using a Colema board
*Whereas a closed system depends on gentle pressure, controlled by the therapist, to introduce the water and evacuate the waste.
*Another difference usually is the type of speculum (rectal instrument) used. With a closed system typically the speculum is larger, for an adult between 0.60 and 0.75 inches in diameter, and waste is evacuated through this speculum.
*Most open gravity flow systems use a pencil thin rectal attachment to introduce the water, and elimination occurs around the tube rather than through it.



My experience:

After experiencing both the open and closes system, I prefer the open system colonic! It is generally regarded as more comfortable and private than the closed system. The beautiful Carrie Pearsall who is a Certified Colon Hydrotherapist explained the entire digestive system to me before we begun - the body continues to amaze me!

With an open system I lied on a molded fiberglass table that looks like a recliner - it is very comfortable. The form-fitted table has a basin cut into it & a small, disposable rectal tube, about the size of a pencil is attached at one end. After Carrie demonstrated how to gently insert the tube, she left the room, providing total privacy. Carrie then returned when I was ready & begun a gentle, continious flow of gravity-fed water through the rectal tube & into my bowels. Then when I felt full, I simply pushed out & the rectal tube automatically moved to one side within the rectum allowing the softened matter to flow out. It then flows down a drain in the bottom of the basin & past a three inch clear viewing tube. So yes I could see everything coming out! An odor exhaust system ensures the room remains odor free at all times. Carrie can remain in the room & provide instruction during the first session, but private time can be provided during future sessions.

Carrie looked after me before and after the treatment. Before the treatment she checks in with you to find out what is in your bowels - foods that you often eat. She gave me a chart to fill out (and this is what a typical Earth Dieter's list would look like!)

How often do you eat the following foods?
(A)-Every Day (B)-A Few Times A Week (C)-Sometimes (N)-Never

(A)-Every Day:
Water
Fruit Juice (Home made)
Green Salads
Fresh Vegetables
Fresh Fruits

(C)-Sometimes
Salt & Pepper
Herbal Tea
White Rice
Beans
Chicken/Turkey
Fresh Fish
Shellfish
Whole grains, Quinoa, Millet, Barley, Brown Rice

(N)-Never
Coffee, Chips, Decaf Coffee, Candy, Tea, Cakes/Cookies, Decaf Tea, Artificial, Sweetner, White Sugar, Soda, White Bread, Diet Soda, Bagels, Ice Tea, Pizza, Pasta, Canned Foods, Fast Foods, Fried Foods, Ice Cream, Frozen/Yogurt, Milk, Cheese, Eggs, Rice or Soy Milk, Beef, Pork, Veal, Any deli meats, Canned Tuna, Whole grain bread, Frozen Vegetables

Rice milk, meats, eggs, milk and coffee are items on The Earth Diet however I have written N (never) as I simply do not enjoy eating them. If you do eat meats, eggs and milk on The Earth Diet, it is encouraged these foods to be organic.

After the treatment Carrie gives you information "What to expect after your colon Hydrotherapy Session" and what are the best foods to eat afterwards. The Balance Health And Wellness Center treat their clients with dignity and respect. They have absolutely earned an impeccable reputation for cleanliness, honesty and client appreciation.

Other Services Include:
Acupuncture
Colon Hydrotherapy
Massage Therapy (All styles and techniques)
NAET – Allergy Elimination Techniques
Ear Stapling (Weight loss)
Ear Candling
Ionic Foot Bath
Herbal Medicine

Additional Services:
Hot Stone Massage
Facial Rejuvenation (Acupuncture, Herbs and Facial Massage)
Acoustic Wave Therapy
Moxibustion
Reflexology
Cupping
Ultra Violet Heat Therapy
Electric Stimulation

Specialty Services:
Drug and/or Alcohol Detoxification Treatments
Stop Smoking Clinics
Senior Citizen Specials

Mention this blog and take $10 treatment of your choice!

*All Major Medical Insurance Accepted – provided your plan has coverage
** We Accept NO FAULT and WORKERS COMPENSATION Claims!

Contact Carrie Pearsall or Joesph D'Antona at the Balance Health and Wellness Center
C: 631-BALANCE (631 225 2623) W: www.631balance.com

TWO LOCATIONS:
1. 57 Main st 672 N. Wellwood Ave
2. Kings Park, NY 11754 Lindenhurst, NY 11757



Challenges: Taking life far too seriously! Forgetting that this is all an illusion! I am reminding my self who I am and who I am not, and observing how and when I drop in and out of this.

Triumphs: The entire experience of the open system colonic was relaxing, recharging, and empowering! Any system where one gets to purge toxins out of the body has got to be invigorating!

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: An orange and grapefruit juice mmm mmm mmm!

Food fest 2: A beautiful ripe creamy avocado!

Food fest 3: 3 nectarines (I love summer!)

Food fest 4: Another avocado :)))

Food fest 5: Some sweet chilled cherries

Food fest 6: Beans and Rice - grounding, warm and absolutely fufilling.

Recipe: Recipe for Beans and Rice are on The Earth Diet website www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: Riding my bike! :) And working/playing/loving/watering my garden ;)

122 days to go!!!

Day 244

Thoughts: There’s not much you can do with $2. In fact, you can’t even buy a beer, a burger, or a bus ticket. Shockingly, the 1.4 billion people currently living below the Extreme Poverty Line survive on this small amount every day.

Internationally, the Extreme Poverty Line is defined as US$1.25 a day – the equivalent of $2 in Australia. 1.4 billion people in our world live below this line –lacking the basic choices and opportunities that most Australians take for granted.

By living on $2 a day, you’ll help Australians understand the obstacles faced by those currently living in extreme poverty.

Nick Dale is taking the challenge from 2nd-6th August, and raise money for life-changing education programs. He is requesting other fellow beings take part and reach out as well...



For a while now, just about everytime I sit down to indulge in a big meal of delicious, healthy food of my own choosing, I am compelled to think how lucky I am, and that in other parts of the world what I am eating would be beyond those people's imagination. I am eating food they could only dream of and I have the luxury of choosing to eat whatever I feel like, whenever I want and how much I want! As I'm about to fork into my eggs benedict, I cant help but think how unbalanced this all is. Why should I get to eat like this and take it for granted while millions of people are sick and gaunt from hunger and are lucky to get a bowl of rice for the day? These are my fellow human beings. As I warm my belly with nourishment, they are in suffering.

I figure I could go on enjoying my life without doing anything about it, but do I want to do that?

Its time to commit to something for once in my life that is beyond my own little world

This August I will be feeding myself with just $2 a day to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty, and to support life-changing education programs.

I would love your support! Please click on this link to visit my fundraising page to find out more about the project I'm fundraising for, and what i'll be giving up.

It would also be great to get a group together and start up a team fundraising page!

Anyone interested in this, let me know. Strength in numbers I say!

I would also like to create a project of some kind to help promote this campaign, such as a documentary, or short film on the topic. Or photography/writing project, something creative. I know i have loads of creative genuis friends out there so what do you think guys?

Please help me spread the word about this great initiative.

Thank you very much.

You can visit my fundraising page at
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/nick__dale

Any ideas, feel free to contribute and get back to me! If you wanna take up the challenge too, just click on the website and start up a page! Its easy! Or if you just would like to donate, click on my page above and you can donate anything you like! It all helps to a worthy cause and goes towards making a difference!

Warm hugs! - Nick Dale



Your support can help the following projects:

A Poverty Education Program in Australian schools
The Global Poverty Project is working with the Oaktree Foundation to make sure Australian students have the knowledge and resources they need to lead the movement to end extreme poverty, and usher in a new era in global poverty policy.
In the next 12 months we want to speak to 50,000 students around the country - to ignite the grassroots movement that will improve the lives of 1.4 billion people.

Open a school in remote Papua New Guinea
Yangis is a community in the mountains of Papua New Guinea that is so isolated it is a 3 day walk to the nearest road. The Oaktree Foundation are supporting the community to re-build their school which hasn’t been in operation for 15 years.
Sign up to help train the teachers, refurbish the school building, get great teaching resources and provide everything necessary to give the kids of Yangis an incredible education.

To sign up for Live Below The Line, go to http://livebelowtheline.com/sign-up/

For more information, visit their website at livebelowtheline.com

For direct news from the NSW Live Below The Line team, join our facebook or twitter pages at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4727423&id=650381446#!/group.php?gid=131614226854534&ref=ts

and http://twitter.com/belowthelineNSW



Challenges: Google poverty. I read that over 24000 children die every day around the world from poverty.

Triumphs: I realize I have it so easy when I compare where I am in the world to where they are. I turn on the tap and water come out. I have a brush to brush my hair. I have 4 super markets all within 10 minutes on my bike. I have a purse. I have money in my purse.

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: Cherries!

Food fest 2: Chocolate Balls! Ingredients: Almonds, brazil nuts, cocao, water and agave syrup. Healthy, yummy, chocolate!!!

Food fest 3: 5 beautiful nectarines! One of them was absolutely the perfect nectarine! My idea of a perfect nectarine is firm yet soft flesh, sweet all the way to the seed!

Food fest 4: Spanish Beans and Rice

Recipe: Recipe for Chocolate Balls and Spanish Beans and Rice is on The Earth Diet website www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: Stretching on my bed, acting/playing exercises, yoga breathing, bike riding :)

121 days to go!!!

Visit: www.theearthdiet.org

Day 245

Thoughts: Intention.

Transforming a conversation, just like manifesting a dream, begins by setting an intention. Your intentions will assist you in taking greater control of your life.

Phylameana lila Desy says A working definition for intention is: “to have in mind a purpose or plan, to direct the mind, to aim.” Lacking intention, we sometimes stray without meaning or direction. But with it, all the forces of the universe can align to make even the most impossible, possible. My intention is to transform the conversation around dreams from fear and doubt, to hope and possibility, followed by action and results.

The media and masses say, “It’s time to be realistic.” Consider this. Without our dreams all we have is our present reality. Reality is not a bad thing. We have to know where we are so we can design the appropriate strategy for getting to where we want to be. The challenge is our attitude around “reality” and being “realistic” and what being realistic has cost us. Often that’s our passion and joy, our hopes and dreams.

When should you set an intention? You could set an intention every day. Your intention could be to work less and make more, or to find a new career that you are passionate about. It could be to get healthy and physically fit, or to spend more quality time with loved ones or alone. It can be specific and about something in particular or more like a quality, such as to be more relaxed or involved with life.

Storm from The Garden Diet says "When you eat, eat with intention. When you focus on that apple, and imagine as you eat, that it is going in to each cell, energizing each cell, then the apple works with you to do that.

When you work out, work out with intention. When you focus on the movements you are doing, breathing in to them, realizing how they are sculpting your form, then these movements and your body work with you to do that.

Going through the motions of eating and exercising are not the same as eating and exercising with a goal in mind, with a certain intention, which creates a whole new consciousness about the way you eat and work out. Consciousness, love, are central to all things."

Dr. Wayne Dyer is an internationally best-selling author of more than 30 books including THE POWER OF INTENTION. I wanted to share with you a conversation he had with Wayne Dyer (By Ellen Mahoney).

Mahoney: What common excuses do people use in grappling with their conscience?

Dyer: Excuses are the explanations we use for hanging on to behaviors we don’t like about ourselves; they are self-defeating behaviors we don’t know how to change. In Excuses Begone! I review 18 of the most common excuses people use, such as “I’m too busy, too old, too fat, too scared or it’s going to take too long or be too difficult.”

We spend a big hunk of our lifetimes contemplating what we can’t have, what we don’t want and what’s missing in our lives. What we have to learn is to put our attention and focus on contemplating what it is we would like to attract, and not on what is missing.

Mahoney: You talk about mind viruses. What are these?

Dyer: A virus has three purposes: to duplicate, to infiltrate and to spread from one host to the next. Ultimately, even a single virus can shut down an entire system.

A mind virus is different in that there is no form to it; these are ideas placed in our heads when we are little. We get programmed by well-meaning people like our parents and their parents, our culture, religions and schools. We get conditioned to believe in our limitations and what’s not possible.

After a while, we start really believing these things are true. People who have had self-defeating behaviors for a long time, such as people who have been overweight since they were children or people with longtime addictions, actually believe there is no other alternative.

Mahoney: What’s the payoff for living a life filled with excuses?

Dyer: There’s a payoff for everyone. The reason we hang on to self-defeating behaviors is because it’s easier not to take responsibility. If you’re blaming something or someone else for the way you are, then that person, those people, those circumstances or those energies, are going to have to change in order for you to get better; that’s most likely never going to happen. It’s also a way to manipulate other people.

Usually, making excuses is just something we can get away with, rather than challenging or changing ourselves. If you want to change and you want your life to work at a level you’ve never had before, then take responsibility for it.

I’m not saying that a child who was abused or beaten or abandoned made that happen, but your reaction to it is always yours. While you were four, you didn’t know anything other than being terrified and scared; you’re not four any longer. Now [as an adult] you have to make a choice and recognize that even the abuse that came into your life offers you an opportunity to transcend it, to become a better person and even more significantly, to help someone else not go through what you did.

Mahoney: What is your seven-question paradigm to help people change long-established habits of negative thinking?

Dyer: The paradigm helps a person identify the thought system, which is almost always false, that is behind the rationale for the continuation of excuses. It helps them really look at excuses from an objective point of view and realize that everything they’ve been thinking is just as likely to be not true as it is to be true.

I believe if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Mahoney: When we look at our own lives and think about the lives of loved ones, what is key to living a healthy, happy, love-based life?

Dyer: The key is to trust in your own divinity, to know that you are a piece of God, and that you are like what you came from. As a spiritual being, you have Divinity within. When Albert Einstein was asked about the impact of quantum physics, he said, “It’s just all details, I just want to think like God thinks.” And God thinks in terms of creating, kindness, beauty and goodness.

His newest book, Excuses Begone! How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits, was inspired by the ancient teachings of the Tao Te Ching and says "There is a voice in the Universe urging us to remember our purpose for being on this great Earth. This is the voice of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us."

Challenges: Forgive Everyone. Revenge, anger, and hatred are exceedingly low energies that keep you from matching up with the attributes of the universal force. A simple thought of forgiveness toward anyone who might have angered you in the past will raise you to the level of Spirit and aid you in your individual intentions.

Triumphs: Feel Good. Say "I want to feel good" when you're tempted to indulge in low-energy thoughts. Wanting to feel good is synonymous with wanting to feel God. Remember: "God is good, and all that God created was good." DR. WAYNE W. DYER

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery, ginger juice! Staring the day with a bowel cleanse!

Food fest 2: Cherries!

Food fest 3: 2 sweet sweet nectarines. Half a avocado (I shared the other half with Andrew)

Food fest 4: Another nectarine and some more cherries.

Food fest 5: Spicy Green Avocado Salad! My absolute favourite salad - refreshing and light :) Ingredients: lettuce, baby spinach, lime, coriander (cilantro), coriander seeds, garlic, ginger, green chilli, dash of himalayan salt and olive oil, avocado, cucumber and ginger!

Recipe: Spicy Green Avocado Salad will be available on The Earth Diet website next week! www.theearthdiet.org

Exercise: A 40 minute workout a Big Al's Family Fitness! I exercised with intention and felt every bit of it! I worked on the legs, arms and abs and gave myself a reward of stretching in the sauna mmm mmm mmm! I also rode my bike to the gym and grocery store to buy cherries, avocados and nectarines.

I like to see all the bikes in my community! Beautiful :)

120 days to go!!!

Visit:
http://www.drwaynedyer.com/affirmations/
http://healing.about.com/od/marciawieder/a/powerintention.htm
www.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
www.theearthdiet.org
www.thegardendiet.com